Teisco 10 Tube Amp

Teisco 10 Tube Amp
1960's?
Made in Japan, 100V

Tube complement: 1 x 7189 power tube, 1 x 6x4 rectifier, 1 x 12ax7 preamp, 1 x 12ax7 for tremolo and spring reverb effects

Speaker: 1 x 10in. Alnico, Teisco branded





This is a 5 watt single-ended tube amp with a 10" Alnico speaker. It has tube-based Tremolo and Reverb effects. The reverb uses one triode of a 12AX7 and a small single spring transducer so it can't compare to a Fender amp reverb.

The power tube is a 7189. In this particular amp, this can be replaced with an EL84 with no need for modification.

There are two 12AX7 tubes in this amp; one is used in the preamp section and the other is used for the Tremolo and Reverb effects.

The amp is in relatively clean and unmolested condition when i acquired it. It did power up and has sound output but not at 100%.

The obvious suspects are the electrolytic caps which are all still the original ones. The oil-in-paper caps which were used in many '60s Japan-made tube amps are known to get bad and cause these type of problem.

The chassis gets abnormally hot when the amp is turned on for some minutes, again pointing to possible leaky cap/s.

Teisco marketed their amps domestically in Japan and also sold them overseas. I surmise that they designated different model names for one amp depending on where they are being marketed. So this amp (Teisco 10) is the same as the Teisco Checkmate 17 tube amp and Teisco 5 tube amp.

To add to this chaos, Teisco also made SS amps which they named Teisco 10 and Checkmate 17. They seemed to ran out of model-name ideas back then, or they took it for granted that domestic models will not stray off abroad.

In '60s Japan, it is not only Teisco who ran out of ideas in tube amp making. I've seen models from Guyatone and from Ace Tone which looked like clones of Teisco amp. I'm not sure though who copied from who.

The amp is wired point-to-point which some would like.

1964 Fender Showman Tube Amp

Fender Showman Tube Amp (My 2nd Unit)
1964
Serial No. A01026

This is my second 1964 Fender Showman which await restoration.

More details will be posted later...

Fender Blackface Showman 1966

Fender Blackface Showman Amp 1966
Serial No. A 07899

This is my second '66 Fender Blackface Showman. This also has a multi-voltage Transformer.

Fender Silverface Bassman 1968

Fender Silverface Bassman 1968
Serial No.

This is my second Fender Bassman. This one is an earlier Silverface that has the desirable 'blackline'. This amp has cloth wiring and not the teflon wiring used in the later '68 to '69 models.

Fernandes Revolver Pro Guitar

Fernandes FR-95S / Fernandes Revolver Pro Guitar
Made in Japan
1990's






This guitar is a Fernandes FR-95S (or a FR-85S?) model which is AFAIK, marketed only in Japan. It is a superstrat-shaped guitar with Ash body and H-S-S pickup configuration. It has a nice, thick (full 1/4") and relatively flat-radiused rosewood fretboard with 22 medium frets and gold colored Gotoh tuners.

The guitar has the Fernandes FRT Tremolo system and is equipped with the FSK-401 Dual Mode Fernandes Sustainer system.

This guitar is the pre-cursor to the Korean/Taiwan-made Fernandes Revolver Pro guitar marketed to the US, EU and other markets.

The Fernandes Sustainer system is one of the more successful innovation to the electric guitar next to the Floyd Rose trem system. The sustaining effect sounds and feel natural and not gimmicky. The guitar still sound and feel like a guitar and not like a synth or an organ.

Steve Vai, U2's The Edge, and many others use the sustainer system very successfully. I particularly like Vai's use of the sustainer effect in 'Whispering A Prayer' and 'For The Love of God'.

BOSS RV3 Digital Reverb/Delay Effects Pedal

BOSS RV3 Digital Reverb/Delay Effects Pedal
Made in Taiwan

Reverb is my favorite and more frequently used guitar effects. I find that I am either at the '10 - Hall' or at the '11 - Plate' reverb setting. I sometimes try to use 'delay' but have not learned to use it or set it right.

Fender Dual Showman 1966

Fender Dual Showman 1966
Serial No. A 07787

The Fender Dual Showman has a 4-ohms Output Transformer impedance vs. an 8-ohms Output Transformer impedance of the Fender Showman. The only other minor difference is a resistor value in the Negative Feedback loop in these amps. The Dual Showman has a 100 ohms vs. a 47 ohms resistor value in the Showman. Aside from these, the Fender Dual Showman is identical to a Fender Showman.

The intended cab for the Dual Showman features two 15", 8-ohms speakers connected in parallel in one cabinet. Hence the 'Dual' designation.